Bridle-bit



2 Shees--Sheet 1.

L.S.LONGO0R.

(No Model.)

BBIDLE BIT.

No. 295,028. Patented Mar. 11, 1-884.

' WITNESSES f Q6 (No Model.)

WITNESSES 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. L. S. LONGOOR.

N. PETERS, Phum-Unw n h-r, wnmngtnn, n. c.

LEONARD S. LONGCOR,

PATEN rricn.

OF BELVIDERE, ILLINOIS.

BRlDLE-BIT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 295,028, dated March 11, 1884.

Application filed January 3, 1884. (No model.)

'1 0 aZZ whom it may concern:

1 Be it known that I, LEONARD S. LONGCOR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Belvidere, in the county of Boone and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bridle-Bits, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to bridle-bits, and is an improvement on the ordinary flexible or double-j ointed bit provided with sliding bars, and also is an improvement on the bridle-bit for which Letters Patent were granted to me June 12, 1883, and numbered 279,171.

The object of my invention is to provide a bit for bridles which shall be so constructed that the various measures of severity in the management of horses may be obviated; and

it is my purpose to furnish a bridlebit bywhich the most fractious animal or those of docile disposition maybe humanely controlled, the said bit being adjusted and adapted to be applied for use in either case. The difticulty with the ordinary bit provided with sliding bars is that when the movable leather slide on the straps is placed low down toward the nose, for the purpose of rendering the bit more eii'ective, the sliding bars are restrained inxtheir action, from the fact that the straps are connected directly with or attached directly to the said sliding bars, whereby the straps take a bearing across the nose of the animal, so that when the driving-reins are pulled upon their action will be the same as a dead pull, and the animal-is but partially controlled, as the sliding bars are not free to move toward the center of the bit, they being retarded by their attachment directly to the straps aforesaid.

My present invention of a bridle-bit is so constructed that it is a vast improvement over my former patent, in which there is no limit to the severity of the pressure of the sliding bar's upon the lips and jaws of the animal when the driving-reins are drawn taut. It will be seen in the improved bit that these defects are obviated by having the sliding bars provided with apertures at the upper ends thereof, whereby said apertures are above the point of bearing of the straps with the rings of the upper bit, so that the sliding bars, to a certain limit, will be free to move toward the centers of the bits when the driving-reins are pulled upon, said limit being reached when the upper ends of the sliding bars come to abearing on the straps, which pass through said upper apertures and through the rings of the upper bit, and are buckled back onto the said straps above the apertures. These apertures also do away withthe necessity of flattening the ends of the upper bit, to prevent the sliding bars from turning on the said bit, by arranging the straps as above mentioned, thus furnishing a bit which is not rigid in its operation and not liable to chafe the mouth of the horse. An other advantage in the present invention is that the bit may be so adjusted as to apply it for use in controllingor handling animals of v docile dispositions, and to those of tender or sensitive mouths. Said adjustment may be made by buckling the cheekpieces of the bridle into the upper apertures of the sliding bars, and having the upper bit so adjusted that it will be turned back or rest upon the lower jaw of the animal, whereby the two bits bear the same relative position to each other, and the main bit prevented from working or bending at its central joints, thus causing the bit to operate the same as an ordinary straight bit; and in this adjustment the sliding bars which connect the two bits prevent the rings of the main mouth-piece from slipping through or partly through or into the mouth of the horse that is hard to rein, and the necessity of using disks made of leather andattached to the ends of bridle-bits is obviated. The operation of the bits upon the mouth or jaws of the horse will occasion no injury to the same, as pulling upon the driving-reins does not tend to run the bit up the mouth, against the inner c corners or ends of the same.

In the accompanying drawings, Figurel is a perspective view of my invention. Fig. 2 is a detail view of one of the jaw-links of the main bridle-bit. Fig. 3 is a view of the cen- 9 5 tral double linlcwith open-slotted eyes. Fig. at is a view of a sliding bar having a single central aperture; and Fig. 5 is a view of the head of a horse, shown in dotted lines, with my invention attached.

ICU.

The letter A represents the upper or check bit, made of any suitable material, and pro vided at its outer ends with rings 1).

13 indicates the drivingbit, composed of the double middlclink,f, having eyes f and f to which are attached the jaw-links c c, which are provided at their outer ends with slotted eyes 0 c, that are adapted to be adjusted and closed on the driving-rings M by pressing said slotted eyes together. These rings have attached to them the driving-reins and cheek-pieces of the headstall. The double middle link, f, may also be provided with open slots, the same as the jaw-links, and the inner eyes of said jaw-links can be constructed the same as their outer eyes.

The letters E E denote the sliding bars, having apertures a, a, and 0f, the two former of which engage the interposed bit A and the jaw-links c c of the bit 13, respectively, and they are permitted to have sidewise movement thereon. The latter aperture, 66", is for the purpose of allowing the ends of the overchcckrein, nose-strap, or face-piece to be passed through them, and thence through the rings Z) of the upper bit, and brought back and buckled above the said aperture a", thus forming a loop between said rings and the buckle aforesaid, whereby when the driving reins are drawn tight the sliding bars are caused and allowed to move toward the center of the two bits, as has been hereinbcfore described, and shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings. The sliding bars have at their lower extremities outwardly-curved extensions (1 d, which prevent the animal from taking the bit between his teeth and becoming unmanageable, as the curved form of the extensions is to a certain extent in a posit-i on above the lower jaw when force is applied to the driving-reins.

In Fig. I I have shown a sliding bar having two apertures, one of which is at the top of the bar, and the other one is at the central portion thereof, whereby one bit can be used. The lower portion of this bar is also provided with an extension of the same general construction as the sliding bar, in which two bits are used.

I attach importance to the fact that the objeet of the slotted eyes above mentioned is that a smoother and stronger piece of workmanship is furnished, as the fiber of the metal. is

not subjected to a severe strain when the eyes are closed together on the rein-rings.

Having now fully described myinvention and the operation thereof, what I claim is l. The combination, with the bits B and A, of the sliding bars E, having apertures a a, connecting said bits together, and provided with apertures a in their upper ends above the rings Z) of the upper bit, A, as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a bridle-bit, the sliding bar having the central and upper apertures, and provided with an extension below the central aperture, as shown and described, and for the purpose set forth.

3. The combination, with the driving-bit having the double-eyed central link, the jawlinks hinged thereto at their inner ends, and the checkbit A, having rings I), ofthe sliding bars E, having central apertures for the two bits, whereby they move to and from the eentral portion of the bits, said bars provided at their upper portions with apertures for the passage of the straps, and having at their low er portions outward]y-curved extensions (Z d, as shown and described, and for the purposes set forth.

7 In testimony whereof I allix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

LEONARD S. LONGCOR.

\Vitnesscs:

.T. O. S'rxnn,

11. S. XVIIITMAN. 

